We had a lovely drive yesterday through the southern tip of the Black Hills and then dropped into Wyoming, using strictly county routes. At intersections of routes there were signs that said, "road closed when flashing" with two huge lights on either side of the sign, huge gates that drop down across both sides of the road. Cameras present to take pictures with a warning that heavy fines levied if disobeyed. Big turn around for people to turn back. Obviously for heavy snows, they close the roads down. Snow fences are abundant. There are very few ranches and one I saw many times over - 4W ranch. This ranch is Wyoming's oldest - since 1878 where it appeared as the only ranch on a map of Wyoming located on the Cheyenne River. Today the 5th generation runs the complex with a dude ranch, cattle, horses, hunting, fishing expeditions.
We stopped in Douglas to tank up and saw in front of us the Laramie Mountains. Got into Casper about 2:30pm. We are in a campground AGAIN with worker-bees who are working on the gas pipe line - same project that we encountered in North Dakota, South Dakota and now here. But - not in the news - a TransCanada pipeline that hooks into North Dakota's pipe line and moves through Montana into Wyoming - had a gas pipe break July 25th in Gillette, WY - about 30 miles from here. No wonder we are having problems finding a site - this campground is totally booked, the two campgrounds I inquired in Gillette literally laughed at me! This campground is waiting on people who have booked 8 sites - and they are from Germany. She said they are biking it here (don't know if it's bicycling or motorbiking). And they are working on the pipe line too.
Our main objective while here is to spend time with Phil and Sandy - two neat people we met last winter while in Texas. They talked us into heading down to McAllen, not that far from Brownsville - had a great time. They are now working at a dude ranch in Buffalo and Dave and I will go to the ranch tomorrow to see them and spend time. We will find out if they have changed their mind about going to Texas for the winter, with all the fires and severe draught.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Spearfish Canyon Waterfall
Yesterday (Friday) was our last hurrah in seeing the Rapid City/Black Hills area of South Dakota. We are moving tomorrow to Casper, Wyoming, for a week and we knew that the day before we break camp we clean, laundry, grocery shop, kinda lay low since the next day will be nerve wracking closing down, traveling, finding the new campground, setting up. We had not gone into Sturgis, Deadwood, or Lead (pronounced leed) and decided to see what we could in one day. Dave still feeling punky so I did the driving while he stared out the window. Sturgis - we cannot figure out where 250,000 visiting biker people stay in this little town when Bikers Week (Harley-Davidson owners converge here for rally) is on. Where are the hotels? And we were also told it is not just one week but typically most of August is awful in terms of local residents moving around and living. A lady told us that the locals leave town, rent out their homes to the 
bikers. Kinda like WoolyBear Festival in Vermilion - locals leave town during the one day in Vermilion! We can appreciate what the lady said.
From Sturgis we moved on to Deadwood. Cute little town. Lots of history, casinos, bars, restaurants, hotels. And there were alot of people there. From Deadwood we moved one mile further down the road to Lead. Depressed town since the gold mine/ore mine has shut. We stopped at the visitors center and while there struck up a conversation with a lady selling coffee. She suggested we go to Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway and go to Spearfish Waterfalls. She said - the view is beautiful, you won't regret it. Off we went, and canyon is exactly what she said - beautiful. The falls? Wow, I could have stayed there all day. The roar of the waterfall, the crisp clear water in the stream, the spray, canyon cliffs overhead. Gorgeous! Heaven on earth. Traveled the backroads through the Black Hills National Forest back and told each other that this whole area is very appealing, we could live here for months on end.
bikers. Kinda like WoolyBear Festival in Vermilion - locals leave town during the one day in Vermilion! We can appreciate what the lady said.From Sturgis we moved on to Deadwood. Cute little town. Lots of history, casinos, bars, restaurants, hotels. And there were alot of people there. From Deadwood we moved one mile further down the road to Lead. Depressed town since the gold mine/ore mine has shut. We stopped at the visitors center and while there struck up a conversation with a lady selling coffee. She suggested we go to Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway and go to Spearfish Waterfalls. She said - the view is beautiful, you won't regret it. Off we went, and canyon is exactly what she said - beautiful. The falls? Wow, I could have stayed there all day. The roar of the waterfall, the crisp clear water in the stream, the spray, canyon cliffs overhead. Gorgeous! Heaven on earth. Traveled the backroads through the Black Hills National Forest back and told each other that this whole area is very appealing, we could live here for months on end.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Small World!
We laid low yesterday giving the medicine time to start working on Dave. He is feeling punky and is dizzy and aching all over, reactions that are noted on the info sheet. We did run a few errands in early afternoon and we were gone from the campground around 3 hours. When we got back we were surprised at how fast the campground filled up. It's fun to watch RVs come in and set up. Where we are sitting in this campground we can get a good look at what pulls in. We ooh and aah and watch folks in their routines and remark to each other that sometimes there is no sanitary precautions that people make. Like not cleaning off the water spigot, or not wearing protective gear or using protective wipes when dealing with sewer/water hookups. One little incident with a cut on a hand coming in contact with sewer stuff - and big time infection could set in. As a matter of fact we go through so much hand sanitizer it's amazing.
About 6pm we watched a huge travel trailer with a Dodge truck pulling it come into the
campground and WOW. Looked again and we said 'IT'S A PARK MODEL!' which means - this type of travel trailer (box like) is meant to be sitting permanently at a campground, not to be pulled around the country. We eventually want to look into a Park Model when we find the right place to sit for months at a time. This picture shows our unit - second from the left - and if you blow up the picture - the far right one with all the windows - is the Park Model. Dave struck up a conversation with the folks, found out that they are from Elyria (city near where we lived in Vermilion) and that this was their maiden voyage. And they are scared big time! Dave came back to tell me that they were from Ohio and let's go back to talk more with them - in conversation we found out that they are from Pier-Lon Campground in Medina Ohio! Talk about small world! That's where we left from July 30th. Pier-Lon owner and their worker-bee are so concerned about them that they asked every other day to call to make sure they are okay. This couple is rethinking their plans and are going to head back to Ohio instead of pushing on - it's just too big to move around. Amen.
About 6pm we watched a huge travel trailer with a Dodge truck pulling it come into the
campground and WOW. Looked again and we said 'IT'S A PARK MODEL!' which means - this type of travel trailer (box like) is meant to be sitting permanently at a campground, not to be pulled around the country. We eventually want to look into a Park Model when we find the right place to sit for months at a time. This picture shows our unit - second from the left - and if you blow up the picture - the far right one with all the windows - is the Park Model. Dave struck up a conversation with the folks, found out that they are from Elyria (city near where we lived in Vermilion) and that this was their maiden voyage. And they are scared big time! Dave came back to tell me that they were from Ohio and let's go back to talk more with them - in conversation we found out that they are from Pier-Lon Campground in Medina Ohio! Talk about small world! That's where we left from July 30th. Pier-Lon owner and their worker-bee are so concerned about them that they asked every other day to call to make sure they are okay. This couple is rethinking their plans and are going to head back to Ohio instead of pushing on - it's just too big to move around. Amen.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Badlands, Et Al
After a late start in the morning we decided around noon to head to the Badlands again and do some hiking/walking. We took the southern route into 
the Badlands, going through a portion of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The landscape is so stark, so barren, very eerie. We drove miles and miles in the back roads, on a state route, and saw an occasional car/truck and once in awhile would see a farm way in the distance. As we got to the town of Interior, the landscape really changed dramatically, into the sandstone formations we saw a couple of days ago. Beautiful, quiet. We did manage to walk along a path being very careful for rattlesnakes - I wished we could have seen one - from a distance! This picture is Dave walking along a dry creek where a trail was. After our hike we continued on the loop road and at one point we came up against the Park Ranger with his lights on, cars pulled over 
and as we neared we saw pronghorn just grazing and having a nice time on the roadway. Pretty impressive. Dave was a bit unsteady and weak and had pains along his waist and leg which now we know what is going on - yesterday morning we spent at the UrgentCare where he was diagnosed with Shingles. But he wanted to go and see anyhow. We got back to the RV about 5pm and was amazed at how fast this campground filled up - we have neighbors! We get an opportunity to talk with folks and feel very secure here now - one is a retired Deputy Marshall and another is retired from police force/state trooper. If something would happen, bet they can protect us!
Have had some questions about our life 'on board' so I thought I would answer via blog. We rarely go out to eat at a restaurant, I cook. We can control our budget better and eat more sensibly and healthy. Our fridge/freezer can store about 7 days of meals without being overloaded. And I keep about 3 meals of 'canned' dinners which means spaghetti, soups, tuna/crackers, pasta in the pantry to use in a pinch. Laundry? Most campgrounds have a laundry facility and sometimes it may be too small to handle (2 washers/dryers) so I go to a local laundromat. I don't like this but I can't help it. Even if we had a washer/dryer on board, most of the campgrounds we have stayed at do not allow you to run this since it uses too much electricity and the sewers could not handle the extra water. How do we plan where we go? We generally know the direction as to what our next stop is and from there I start looking on-line for campgrounds. We belong to 3 camping clubs - GoodSam, Passport America, and Escapees. For the most part we use Passport America where the fee is 50% off the normal rate. For example, the place we are at now is $36 a night and we are getting a rate of $18. This includes free WiFi, full hookup, cable TV, use of the pool and sauna (closed now after Labor Day) and a level site. Not bad. We do not go to the 'big name' campgrounds and do not stay at Flying J's, Pilots, or other truck stops nor will we overnight at WalMart. Those are not options for us. I will search and find something much more suitable to our taste even if it is traveling another 50 miles. And one last item - what about mail? We are fortunate that we can live this life and still be in touch with family in friends. We use the internet for most correspondence and we have our own internet service (Verizon MiFi mini card) and sometimes we are lucky that a campground has internet service so we use theirs. Of the 2 years of using the MiFi we have never gone over the allotted 5 GB of service. As for snail mail - since we have rented out our condo to our dear friends, our snail mail still goes there. Every couple of weeks we ask them to bundle up the mail and send to where we will be.
Last - we are very concerned with our friends in Bastrop, Texas with the wildfires going on there. The only communications allowed into and out of the town are for federal and state authorities so we are not able to reach them. We ask that you keep Yvonne and Parker in your prayers for their safe keeping. With the wildfires this past week, we have rethought about going to Texas this winter. With the worst draught on record, we don't want to be in a place where the potential for fire is great. We are now thinking of just heading to New Mexico and see where that adventure takes us.
the Badlands, going through a portion of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The landscape is so stark, so barren, very eerie. We drove miles and miles in the back roads, on a state route, and saw an occasional car/truck and once in awhile would see a farm way in the distance. As we got to the town of Interior, the landscape really changed dramatically, into the sandstone formations we saw a couple of days ago. Beautiful, quiet. We did manage to walk along a path being very careful for rattlesnakes - I wished we could have seen one - from a distance! This picture is Dave walking along a dry creek where a trail was. After our hike we continued on the loop road and at one point we came up against the Park Ranger with his lights on, cars pulled over 
and as we neared we saw pronghorn just grazing and having a nice time on the roadway. Pretty impressive. Dave was a bit unsteady and weak and had pains along his waist and leg which now we know what is going on - yesterday morning we spent at the UrgentCare where he was diagnosed with Shingles. But he wanted to go and see anyhow. We got back to the RV about 5pm and was amazed at how fast this campground filled up - we have neighbors! We get an opportunity to talk with folks and feel very secure here now - one is a retired Deputy Marshall and another is retired from police force/state trooper. If something would happen, bet they can protect us!Have had some questions about our life 'on board' so I thought I would answer via blog. We rarely go out to eat at a restaurant, I cook. We can control our budget better and eat more sensibly and healthy. Our fridge/freezer can store about 7 days of meals without being overloaded. And I keep about 3 meals of 'canned' dinners which means spaghetti, soups, tuna/crackers, pasta in the pantry to use in a pinch. Laundry? Most campgrounds have a laundry facility and sometimes it may be too small to handle (2 washers/dryers) so I go to a local laundromat. I don't like this but I can't help it. Even if we had a washer/dryer on board, most of the campgrounds we have stayed at do not allow you to run this since it uses too much electricity and the sewers could not handle the extra water. How do we plan where we go? We generally know the direction as to what our next stop is and from there I start looking on-line for campgrounds. We belong to 3 camping clubs - GoodSam, Passport America, and Escapees. For the most part we use Passport America where the fee is 50% off the normal rate. For example, the place we are at now is $36 a night and we are getting a rate of $18. This includes free WiFi, full hookup, cable TV, use of the pool and sauna (closed now after Labor Day) and a level site. Not bad. We do not go to the 'big name' campgrounds and do not stay at Flying J's, Pilots, or other truck stops nor will we overnight at WalMart. Those are not options for us. I will search and find something much more suitable to our taste even if it is traveling another 50 miles. And one last item - what about mail? We are fortunate that we can live this life and still be in touch with family in friends. We use the internet for most correspondence and we have our own internet service (Verizon MiFi mini card) and sometimes we are lucky that a campground has internet service so we use theirs. Of the 2 years of using the MiFi we have never gone over the allotted 5 GB of service. As for snail mail - since we have rented out our condo to our dear friends, our snail mail still goes there. Every couple of weeks we ask them to bundle up the mail and send to where we will be.
Last - we are very concerned with our friends in Bastrop, Texas with the wildfires going on there. The only communications allowed into and out of the town are for federal and state authorities so we are not able to reach them. We ask that you keep Yvonne and Parker in your prayers for their safe keeping. With the wildfires this past week, we have rethought about going to Texas this winter. With the worst draught on record, we don't want to be in a place where the potential for fire is great. We are now thinking of just heading to New Mexico and see where that adventure takes us.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Custer State Park And Sylvan Lake
Yesterday was an absolute gorgeous day, low 70's, and bright sunny sky. Custer State Park is 
located about 12 miles west of our campground and decided to take a leisure drive and hopefully find a nice easy hiking area. Custer State Park is world renown for it's buffalo herd, the wildlife, the scenic views. And I have to say that spending 6 hours in this park yesterday, I could go to this park every day, it is that beautiful, raw, natural, stunning. 5 minutes into entering the park we were stopped by buffalo, yep - they did not want us to go by. I think the diesel engine in the truck is a bit annoying to their ears - one big bull walked right by Dave's driver door and shook and 
splattered him, his camera, and the windows with muck. They were wallowing/drinking in a pond and just wanted to let everyone know that this was their park, not ours! And they are ugly, smelly, noisy animals. Huge! You are warned that buffalo are not friendly - to keep your distance - and you see the people in the car in front of us, out of their cars taking pictures? Stupid people. Then we came across the begging burros, a group of wild burros that are the remnants of the pack animals brought into the park during the 1930s to help build the roads. And beg! Wow, had to keep the windows up because they would stick their nose right into the car to 
get food. And the flies! Open your window a crack and the flies coming zooming in. Onward down the Wildlife Loop Road and at some point we have to make a decision - continue on the road or go find a hiking trail. We opted for the hiking trail and drove to Sylvan Lake. But, 
the road we traveled, Needles Highway, was awesome! We had to drive through 3 tunnels and the road was so narrow to get to Sylvan Lake that each car had to creep by each other, and the scenery! Fabulous! I literally hung out the window taking picture after picture. I felt bad for Dave 
because he had his eyes glued on the road where I was just oohing and awing. Couldn't believe the sights I was seeing. We got to Sylvan Lake and decided to take the 'easy' hiking trail and we felt that if that was 'easy' wonder what the strenuous (they had one of those also to Haney Peak) would have been like? The mile hike around the lake was stunning also. We found a hidden waterfall inside the rocks of the mountain and tried to take pictures of it but I don't think they came out good. Lots of people out for a holiday stroll but we didn't feel rushed or harried. I would love to spend lots more time here in the park. On the way home I drove so Dave could see what he missed and he was amazed at the sights, each turn in the road was something more breath-taking than before.
located about 12 miles west of our campground and decided to take a leisure drive and hopefully find a nice easy hiking area. Custer State Park is world renown for it's buffalo herd, the wildlife, the scenic views. And I have to say that spending 6 hours in this park yesterday, I could go to this park every day, it is that beautiful, raw, natural, stunning. 5 minutes into entering the park we were stopped by buffalo, yep - they did not want us to go by. I think the diesel engine in the truck is a bit annoying to their ears - one big bull walked right by Dave's driver door and shook and 
splattered him, his camera, and the windows with muck. They were wallowing/drinking in a pond and just wanted to let everyone know that this was their park, not ours! And they are ugly, smelly, noisy animals. Huge! You are warned that buffalo are not friendly - to keep your distance - and you see the people in the car in front of us, out of their cars taking pictures? Stupid people. Then we came across the begging burros, a group of wild burros that are the remnants of the pack animals brought into the park during the 1930s to help build the roads. And beg! Wow, had to keep the windows up because they would stick their nose right into the car to 
get food. And the flies! Open your window a crack and the flies coming zooming in. Onward down the Wildlife Loop Road and at some point we have to make a decision - continue on the road or go find a hiking trail. We opted for the hiking trail and drove to Sylvan Lake. But, 
the road we traveled, Needles Highway, was awesome! We had to drive through 3 tunnels and the road was so narrow to get to Sylvan Lake that each car had to creep by each other, and the scenery! Fabulous! I literally hung out the window taking picture after picture. I felt bad for Dave 
because he had his eyes glued on the road where I was just oohing and awing. Couldn't believe the sights I was seeing. We got to Sylvan Lake and decided to take the 'easy' hiking trail and we felt that if that was 'easy' wonder what the strenuous (they had one of those also to Haney Peak) would have been like? The mile hike around the lake was stunning also. We found a hidden waterfall inside the rocks of the mountain and tried to take pictures of it but I don't think they came out good. Lots of people out for a holiday stroll but we didn't feel rushed or harried. I would love to spend lots more time here in the park. On the way home I drove so Dave could see what he missed and he was amazed at the sights, each turn in the road was something more breath-taking than before.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Mako Sica (Badlands) National Park
Friday night we were slammed by violent wind and terrific lightning over us and then passing to the east. This eastern path took the storm directly over the Badlands. For over 9 hours we were buffeted, rolled and bumped back and forth, just a very unpleasant night with the wind hitting us full on
. We felt sorry for the tent campers by us - I think they crawled into their car to avoid the brutal wind. Again, no rain. We did not sleep much, and Chip and Grace were awake laying on me all night. By 10am the wind had died, the sun came out and we decided Chip was a little better we didn't need to watch over him so we jumped into the truck and headed to the Badlands National Park (Lakota Sioux language is Mako Sica). We had to travel back eastward on Interstate 90 about 70 miles to catch the north eastern entrance. What we read was that the sun would reflect off the cliffs and rocks best if viewed with them at our right side of the truck meaning we had to go from east to west on the loop road. We entered the park and traveled about one mile to our first overlook. Wow. Dave didn't remember the Badlands from our visit 25 years ago and I reminded him that we did not come here but drove a mile or two of the park from the western edge near Rapid City. We actually got to hike on one of the trails and I was a bit nervous about rattle snakes present. Didn't venture off the path at all. This park has over 244,000 acres of wilderness and of that, 64,000 acres are still pristine prairie grasslands which is home to the continent's largest free roaming buffalo herd. Since we didn't see any tatanka we will travel to Custer State Park and do the wildlife loop.
At the visitor center we watched a video where it explained how the Badlands were formed, how they are eroding at an inch a year (they will be gone in 500,000 years) and how the violent wind
and rain are common here which shapes the rocks. And boy do we know that from the previous night! As we drove the loop road and stopped here and there to see and take pictures, you could still see the water running swiftly in many of the streams caused from the previous night's rain. And to think that over one hundred twenty years ago Lakota and Oglala Sioux Indians lived and thrived in this area. One stop we looked at was where Chief Big Foot brought his band of Oglala Sioux through a pass and within a week they were all massacred at Wounded Knee in 1890. A large portion of the park lies in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Oglala-Lakota tribe manage the southern area of the National Park. You are encouraged to visit the southern section and visit on the Indian Reservation.
At first you stop, look and wonder at the view and then you begin to see life. We saw sheep in the distance, prairie dogs, birds, didn't see tatanka (buffalo), and lots of rocks. The park wasn't that crowded for a holiday weekend. Here are a couple of pictures so yo
u get the flavor of the 
colors and sights we saw. Would love to see this place at night with the moon shining over the rocks, but would not want to drive through the park - there are no guardrails along the loop road and if you slipped - yikes! There are many places where the road signs warn you of falling rocks which we did see. Too dangerous at night and I bet too dangerous when there is a storm. This is an awe-inspiring park to visit with breath taking views for you to behold.
. We felt sorry for the tent campers by us - I think they crawled into their car to avoid the brutal wind. Again, no rain. We did not sleep much, and Chip and Grace were awake laying on me all night. By 10am the wind had died, the sun came out and we decided Chip was a little better we didn't need to watch over him so we jumped into the truck and headed to the Badlands National Park (Lakota Sioux language is Mako Sica). We had to travel back eastward on Interstate 90 about 70 miles to catch the north eastern entrance. What we read was that the sun would reflect off the cliffs and rocks best if viewed with them at our right side of the truck meaning we had to go from east to west on the loop road. We entered the park and traveled about one mile to our first overlook. Wow. Dave didn't remember the Badlands from our visit 25 years ago and I reminded him that we did not come here but drove a mile or two of the park from the western edge near Rapid City. We actually got to hike on one of the trails and I was a bit nervous about rattle snakes present. Didn't venture off the path at all. This park has over 244,000 acres of wilderness and of that, 64,000 acres are still pristine prairie grasslands which is home to the continent's largest free roaming buffalo herd. Since we didn't see any tatanka we will travel to Custer State Park and do the wildlife loop.
At the visitor center we watched a video where it explained how the Badlands were formed, how they are eroding at an inch a year (they will be gone in 500,000 years) and how the violent wind
and rain are common here which shapes the rocks. And boy do we know that from the previous night! As we drove the loop road and stopped here and there to see and take pictures, you could still see the water running swiftly in many of the streams caused from the previous night's rain. And to think that over one hundred twenty years ago Lakota and Oglala Sioux Indians lived and thrived in this area. One stop we looked at was where Chief Big Foot brought his band of Oglala Sioux through a pass and within a week they were all massacred at Wounded Knee in 1890. A large portion of the park lies in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Oglala-Lakota tribe manage the southern area of the National Park. You are encouraged to visit the southern section and visit on the Indian Reservation.
At first you stop, look and wonder at the view and then you begin to see life. We saw sheep in the distance, prairie dogs, birds, didn't see tatanka (buffalo), and lots of rocks. The park wasn't that crowded for a holiday weekend. Here are a couple of pictures so yo
u get the flavor of the 
colors and sights we saw. Would love to see this place at night with the moon shining over the rocks, but would not want to drive through the park - there are no guardrails along the loop road and if you slipped - yikes! There are many places where the road signs warn you of falling rocks which we did see. Too dangerous at night and I bet too dangerous when there is a storm. This is an awe-inspiring park to visit with breath taking views for you to behold.Friday, September 2, 2011
Lightning Shows and Chip
The temperatures have been in the high 90s since last Monday and we were getting beat up by it. The a/c in the RV just ran forever, never 
shutting off. Every night we have been given a terrific lightning show. You cannot hear the thunder - don't know why and it doesn't rain over us - just all around. It is really pretty. Dave said that he wishes he could get some photos but how do you know where the lightning will be? I was told that lightning is common here in the summer, especially during the early evening. We were going to head to the Badlands National Park today but our older cat Chip (we call him the old man) is not doing well. We got him into an animal hospital yesterday morning to see what is going on and with the 'cat from hell' personality that he takes on in any vet's office - all the doctor could do was just a cursory look. We had the option of having Chip sedated and then have a more thorough look - but we opted to give him at least 48 hours to see if he responds to oral medicine. He's miserable - hasn't been himself for a couple of weeks and it just got impossible for him yesterday morning. It is a good thing that Dave and I can get medicine down him without a problem. Chip will let us do anything to him as long as it is not at a vet's office. We were so impressed with this vet because he said that if we need to get Chip into the office this weekend - just call and if he isn't in, his partner will be there. And another interesting trivia - we also have a younger cat, Grace, who travels with us. She found us about 3 years ago as a kitten (abandoned outside in the winter) and Chip hates her, she's taking affection I would have give him, to her. Since Chip isn't doing well, Grace will come up to him, sniff him, look at him, Chip will look meanly at her - and she walks away. She does not act that way towards him when he's feeling good. She'll torment him and pick on him, smack him, run after him. You can tell she's concerned.
Since we are just hanging out and watching Chip and making him comfortable, we are catching up on mail, I am doing some quilting, will get some grocery shopping done. Temperature today is a whopping 69 which is wonderful! And it's overcast so if we had planned to go to Badlands - would not have been good picture taking day. If Chip is doing better tomorrow we just may make the run and spend the day at the Badlands.
shutting off. Every night we have been given a terrific lightning show. You cannot hear the thunder - don't know why and it doesn't rain over us - just all around. It is really pretty. Dave said that he wishes he could get some photos but how do you know where the lightning will be? I was told that lightning is common here in the summer, especially during the early evening. We were going to head to the Badlands National Park today but our older cat Chip (we call him the old man) is not doing well. We got him into an animal hospital yesterday morning to see what is going on and with the 'cat from hell' personality that he takes on in any vet's office - all the doctor could do was just a cursory look. We had the option of having Chip sedated and then have a more thorough look - but we opted to give him at least 48 hours to see if he responds to oral medicine. He's miserable - hasn't been himself for a couple of weeks and it just got impossible for him yesterday morning. It is a good thing that Dave and I can get medicine down him without a problem. Chip will let us do anything to him as long as it is not at a vet's office. We were so impressed with this vet because he said that if we need to get Chip into the office this weekend - just call and if he isn't in, his partner will be there. And another interesting trivia - we also have a younger cat, Grace, who travels with us. She found us about 3 years ago as a kitten (abandoned outside in the winter) and Chip hates her, she's taking affection I would have give him, to her. Since Chip isn't doing well, Grace will come up to him, sniff him, look at him, Chip will look meanly at her - and she walks away. She does not act that way towards him when he's feeling good. She'll torment him and pick on him, smack him, run after him. You can tell she's concerned.
Since we are just hanging out and watching Chip and making him comfortable, we are catching up on mail, I am doing some quilting, will get some grocery shopping done. Temperature today is a whopping 69 which is wonderful! And it's overcast so if we had planned to go to Badlands - would not have been good picture taking day. If Chip is doing better tomorrow we just may make the run and spend the day at the Badlands.
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